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Labor Hosts Gay Marriage Strategy Breakfast

RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum forwared this invite to an upcoming breakfast meeting he’s hosting with AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes at which labor leaders will strategize for and discuss the “upcoming fight” over same-sex marriage and other LGBT issues.

He was also a very early supporter of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and was the first labor leader to publicly call for then-Gov. David Paterson to step aside and clear the way for Cuomo to avoid a potential nasty – and racially charged – intra-party battle. (We all know how that one ended).

The labor community was divided – rather deftly – by Cuomo during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, with the trades coming out early and strong in support of him and the publics rather reluctantly coming along – or not, in the case of CSEA and NYSUT.

There was a similar divide during the budget battle, which sidelined 1199 SEIU and arguably tanked the pro-millionaire’s tax push in the process.

But Cuomo’s progressive post-budget policy agenda clearly is providing a rallying point for the left, including the more liberal labor unions.

It remains to be seen whether all of this coordination and unity has any impact on the Senate vote, particularly when state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long has made it clear this is a line-in-the-sand issue for him – a potential problem for the Senate Republicans as they gear up for the next fight for the majority in 2012.